Today, in the case of Benoit Russian Museum opens exhibitions «Images and symbols of the old faith». There are icons, works of applied and folk art, manuscripts, XVI - XIX centuries.

The composition of the exhibition includes works that are created, and representatives of different Old Believer bandied about, and consent (bespopovtsev - Pomortsev, fedoseevtsy, filippovtsy - and popovtsev: beglopopovtsy Austrian agreement, etc.). This explains the wide time range of monuments: the icons of the XVI century, the carefully preserved in the Old Praying and sketes, and works until the beginning of XX century. Along with the icons displayed in the halls and mednolitye carved wooden crosses, folding, manuscripts, works of folk art (distaffs, lestovki - Old beads, stamps for printing books, etc.), wall plates drawn. The exhibition is organized on a geographical basis, bringing in different rooms of the monuments from the North: From Vygovskogo старообрядческого obschezhitelstva and the Northern Dvina, from cells and prayers Povolzhie and Zavolzhje; areas of the branches and the Urals. A significant section is devoted to Old Praying and churches of St. Petersburg.

During the 10 years the exhibition prepared by the scientific staff of the Division of Old Russian art restorers, and the Department of Restoration of Tempera Painting Russian Museum. From records and darkened varnish, it was discovered more than 30 icons. Restoration works have allowed for the first time to provide exposition of the whole set of icons - for example, from pomorskie chapels in Yaroslavl and Popovskaya Chapel in Khvalynskoye.

first time, exhibited a few signature pieces старообрядческого icon-painting: the work vygovskih Masters - Daniel Matveyeva (beginning of XVIII century) and Peter Timofeyeva (beginning of XIX century), icon painter Vasily Ryabov rural Pavlovo at Oka (the beginning of XIX century), carrying out orders Popovski cells Semenovskaya district of Nizhny Novgorod province. Portfolio icon-Old beginning of XX century are represented by such names as Basil Guryanov, Ivan and Vasily Bryagin Shitov (Mstera), Andrew and Gabriel Romanova (Ekaterinburg). The unique monuments старообрядческого casting a subscription chetyrehstvorchatye складни, immortalized in the names of masters of the captions - «old» and Andrei Gavrilov Yermolov son Kalinina, and hammered relikvarny Cross in 1739, signed by the master, Ivan Grigoriev. Another rare bronze casting - tricuspid, dated 1721 year складень «Deesis» (in museum collections are stored, only three of these samples, with dates: 1719, 1720 and 1721).

State policy with respect to the Old differed cruelty: in Nikolayevsk were defeated Vygovskoe Old obschezhitelstvo in Povenetskom county Olonets province, hermitages «on popovschine» Semenovskaya county in the Nizhny Novgorod province, the largest hospice Fedoseevskaya from Praying in the city of Kostroma Province Sudislavle; Popovski closed the church in Saratov, Volsky, Khvalynskoye (Saratov region), go to church edinovercheskie numerous chapels Urals. From the repression suffered equally by representatives of all branches of Old regardless of where they live. To store objects of worship, confiscated from the Old, in St. Petersburg at the Ministry of Internal Affairs was the special «archive raskolnichih things». Over ten years (1844-1858) he served as collection points of icons, crosses and mednolityh folding, books, wall draw sheets.

Archive was established with the objective of «history splits», but is in fact a warehouse Old things carelessly svalennyh to close the premises and the Ministry is not available for systematic study. Only in 1857 for personal and public piety of the Old attracted the attention of Professor Imperial Academy of Arts and at the same time, the architect of Ministry of Internal Affairs A. Gornostaeva (1808-1862). He not only used them in preparing their lectures, but also persuaded the academic authorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to apply to transfer to the Academy of Arts. In 1860, over 1 000 icons and small bronze images of crosses and folding into a museum of Christian antiquities of the Imperial Academy of Arts. In 1897, they arrived in the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III.

After the revolution, to add icons of the Old Believer churches and the private prayers of St. Petersburg. As a result, the Russian Museum is a unique collection of monuments to the completeness старообрядческого art, many times greater than all other existing collections.

Source: rusmuseum.ru , mkrf.ru